Young British Artists (YBAs)

The Young British Artists (YBAs), otherwise known as Brit artists or Britart, are a group of British visual artists. The first group exhibition that is now associated with the movement took place in 1988 in London. The majority of the featured artists were graduates from the BA Fine Arts course at Goldsmiths university. Led by Damien Hirst, the first exhibition gained a large amount of public attention. It was titled Freeze and took place in an empty fire station in London Docklands. The exhibition was bold, provocative and artist-led, setting the standard for subsequent exhibitions and how the group would come to be recognized in the art world. The group caught the attention of art collector Charles Saatchi from this first event, who went on to support and collect the works of many of the group's artists. 

Although the group of artists associated with the YBAs was not fixed, and has changed consistently since the movement's inception, some of the leading figures of the movement include Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin. Some of the most famous works to be produced by the group are Hirst's The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, which is a shark preserved in a glass tank in formaldehyde, and Emin's My Bed, a messy, unmade double bed surrounded by clutter. Join Artsper and find artists who are part of the Young British Artists group, or find inspiration in their innovative and daring works.